Moments In Time
by RemyKat
Summary: Claire is getting lost in her memories and everyone hopes for a miracle.  RE:Extinction - Claire/OC  flashbacks , Claire/Alice
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, my first fic, here it is. If you don't like original characters then you might want to miss out on this one – or just bear with me as Alice does appear eventually (next chapter).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Resident Evil characters or the storyline and dialogue I've based this around. Sadly.**

'This is Claire Redfield's convoy, broadcasting for any survivors. Is anybody out there?'

'Check it out.' The blonde girl pointed ahead in the road, and the redheaded woman sitting beside her nodded.

'I see it.' The yellow hummer shot forwards as she hit the gas pedal and sped at the undead monster devouring some poor soul who had run out of luck. The school bus behind them finished the monster off with it's wheel spikes.

'That was a juicy one, huh?' Otto, the driver, turned and grinned at the kids cheering at the now-beheaded undead in the road. The school bus followed the yellow hummer, behind them a news van, an ambulance, army truck and, bringing up the rear, a tank truck.

The redhead in the hummer clicked on her radio. 'Hey, Carlos, this is Claire. You got any smokes?' K-Mart grinned to herself in the seat next to her and pulled out a mirror and some eyeliner.

'I'm out.' Carlos' voice came through from the army truck over the radio.

'Like I'm supposed to believe that.'

'Claire, would I lie to you?' She could hear the grin in his voice.

'L.J.' Claire spoke to the man driving the tanker.

'Claire Redfield, how can I help you?'

Claire smiled. LJ somehow reminded her of life before the virus. 'Got any smokes?'

'No can do.'

'How about alternate?' She spoke hopefully.

'Sorry to say we're out of that too.'

Betty clicked on her radio from the old ambulance. 'You gotta be shitting me. Otto?'

'Sorry, campers. Smoked the last of it back in Salt Lake.' The bus driver said.

'Damn.' Betty clicked off her radio handset and shook her head.

LJ's voice came back over the radio. 'Yeah, people...it really is the end of the world.'

'Damn it.' Claire threw her empty pack through the window and sighed.

'You know those aren't good for you anyway right?' K-Mart couldn't resist saying as she put her eyeliner away.

'Yeah well, who knows if I'll live long enough for my health to fail anyway?'

'Claire!' K-Mart cried reproachfully.

'Sorry K. But you know...' Claire glanced over at the makeup the teenager was stowing in the glove compartment behind the handgun also hidden in there. 'Now what use is that? Who're you putting that on for out here?'

'No-one,' K-Mart blushed. 'But, well, you never know...' she trailed off and stared fixedly on a sand dune in the distance. Claire grinned and turned to concentrate on the road ahead and trying not to think about the nice but unnecessary things she couldn't have anymore. First they'd run out of chocolate, then coffee, and now cigarettes.

To her relief it wasn't long before Mikey called over the radio from the news van.

'There's a motel not too far off this road, shall we try it for supplies, survivors? It might be a good spot to camp for the night too.'

'Sure thing, Mikey.' Claire answered.

Mikey moved the news van to the front of the convoy to lead them off the main road towards the motel he had spotted on the local map spread over the dashboard. He switched channels on the radio and spoke into it, 'This is Claire Redfield's convoy, broadcasting for any survivors. Is anybody out there?'

As Claire followed the news van, her thoughts drifted back to the early days after the virus had really taken hold of the country; when there were still supplies to be found, stores that hadn't been looted by survivors or trashed by the infected.

_The convoy drew up outside the large store, and Claire peered out at the entrance, her eyes narrowed. 'That's barricaded from the inside, Carlos.'_

_'I see that,' he snapped, then shook his head quickly. 'Sorry Claire, I'm just...'_

_'I get it, we're all tired and upset, it's okay.' Claire patted him quickly on the arm and reached for the door handle of the old army truck. 'But now we need to focus. We don't know whether the people who barricaded that door are still, well, people.'_

_'Whatever you say, boss.' Carlos responded with a cheerful grin, earning him a mock stern glance from Claire._

_'So what are we planning? Walk up and knock on the door?' LJ asked as the pair joined him._

_'Not sure I have a better idea right now,' Carlos replied, but Claire pointed at the roof._

_'I don't think we need to knock; pretty sure they've seen us.' The others turned to follow her gaze and saw someone standing on the roof with a gun aimed towards them._

_'Who are you?' the man shouted down._

_'We're friends, we need supplies, perhaps we can help you...' Claire shouted up and as she did so, she tucked her gun away into her waistband. They waited as the man on the roof turned behind him briefly, talking to someone they couldn't see. He nodded once and then turned back to them. _

_'Stay there, we'll let you in. Just you three though, the others stay outside.' He gestured at the other vehicles, then disappeared from view as he turned to presumably follow the other person who had been on the roof._

_A few minutes later a door to the right of the main entrance swung open and a short woman with brown hair beckoned them inside. There were a few flame torches and candles lighting the way to the back of the store, where a store display of camping equipment had been turned into an actual campsite. About fifteen people, mostly children, were standing around staring hopefully at the newcomers._

_'So, what is it you need?' The man from the roof walked over to them, wearing a uniform that looked like it was a security guard's outfit. But he wasn't the man who spoke. A shorter, stocky man in a suit was behind him, and it was he who barked out the words. Claire noticed that he was addressing Carlos, not her. She narrowed her eyes, deciding right now that she didn't like him. While Carlos and LJ discussed their needs with the men, Claire turned her attention to the nearest adult, the woman who had let them in who was now standing with some of the children off to one side. Claire noticed the top of a tattoo just showing on her neck._

_'Hey there,' she smiled at the kids who were staring at her, and held out a hand to the woman, 'I'm Claire. Claire Redfield.' The shorter woman took her hand in a grip that was stronger than Claire had expected, and grinned cheerfully._

_'Sarah. It's a pleasure to meet you, Claire Redfield.' Sarah gestured to the children near her who were tugging at her arm to be introduced to the first new person they'd seen in weeks. 'This is Max, and D...'_

_'K-Mart!' the blonde girl interrupted quickly and Claire stifled a grin at the girl's attitude._

_'Sorry, K.' Sarah laughed and her eyes met Claire's for a long moment. They were dark, dark brown and sparkled with warmth and more life than Claire had seen or felt in a while. Her stomach flipped and she broke the gaze, turning instead to look at the blonde girl who was named after the store they now stood in._

_'Hey, K-Mart, huh? That's an interesting name.' She smiled encouragingly but the girl seemed shy and just shrugged, a blush rising up her neck._

_'Claire.' Carlos came up beside her and spoke softly. He guided her a little way from the others so they wouldn't be overheard. 'The guy's half-crazed. He's got some kind of power trip going on here, thinks he needs to keep everyone holed up here until the crisis is over. Hah! Like it's just going to end, just like that, right? But I reckon they're almost out of food; yet he won't listen to any offers of help and really doesn't want to let us take any clothes or blankets.' He looked apologetically at Claire. 'And he only wants to talk to me or LJ, I'm sorry.' _

_Claire grimaced.'Fine. Perhaps we should just leave and go on to the next place. I don't have time for this.' She paused for an instant then corrected herself quickly. 'We don't have time, I mean.'_

_She turned round, ready to just walk out, but found the blonde girl, K-Mart, standing right behind her. 'Please, take me with you guys. I don't want to stay here. With him.' Claire looked at her and opened her mouth to tell her off for eavesdropping, but then sighed and turned back to Carlos._

_'Well, what do you reckon?'_

_Carlos glanced around at the hopeful group of survivors standing in the absurd indoor campsite and sighed. 'Your call, Claire.'_

The motel was half-buried in sand and at the sight of it Claire's hope failed. It look like it had been picked clean many months ago. She shook her head slowly, and stopped the hummer, the other vehicles coming to a halt around her. 'Let's go wait with Mikey, K.' Claire said as she opened the door. Carlos and LJ were already climbing to the top of the bus to check out the surroundings. Claire drove the truck to the edge of the bluff overlooking the motel.

Mikey was trying different frequencies on the radio. 'This is Claire Redfield's convoy. Location, the Desert Trail Motel. Broadcasting for any survivors. Is there anybody in there?' He paused to listen for a response. 'Broadcasting for any survivors. Is there anybody in there?'

'Keep trying, Mikey.' Claire stood on the door tread of the van to get a better view.

'Is there anyone alive in there? Please respond.' Mikey shook his head at K-Mart but the blonde girl was watching Carlos on the top of the bus.

'Seems quiet.' Carlos said to LJ after peering through the binoculars down at the rundown building.

LJ grunted cynically. 'Yeah, don't they always?'

Carlos clicked the talk button on his radio, 'Claire. Looks clear. Shall we go in?'

'It's your call, boys.' Claire wasn't sure about this one, but they hadn't found anything for weeks now, and supplies and fuel were getting low.

'Come on. Let's go.' Carlos stood up and swung down the ladder on the side of the school bus, LJ right behind him.

'Let's do it.'

Claire watched the two men get into the yellow hummer with the nail salon logo on the side and head closer to the half-buried motel. She wished for more survivors, for gas and food but knew their chances were slim. Her mind wandered again back to that store - how long ago now? Two, three years? She glanced at K-Mart, now almost fifteen. She had been a kid back then, so maybe it was even four years ago.

_Claire didn't know whether it was because of the plea by the blonde girl, or her curiosity with regards to the short cheerful woman, but she and Carlos decided to stay in the store. LJ returned to the vehicles outside to be sure everyone was safe there and to prepare the convoy members for the addition of the store survivors._

_'So what's his story?' Claire asked Sarah on the first night. Sarah looked over to where Claire gestured and grimaced._

_'Hmm? Oh, yeah, he's a jerk.'_

_'Kind of worked that much out for myself.' Claire smiled to take the sting out of her words and Sarah laughed shortly._

_'Sorry. I guess he was the store manager. The other guy is the security guard. From what I've been told, they barricaded the doors with a bunch of shoppers inside as soon as the news came through of the infected hordes. He promised a safe place to 'sit out the crisis' but now he'll only let people in occasionally, like me, and you.' She looked Claire in the eyes grimly. 'It's mostly women though, most of the men have, well, gone.'_

_'Gone?' Claire looked confused and concerned._

_'He'll send them out on scouting trips or something and they generally don't come back. I think he's hoping to single-handedly rebuild the human race. With himself as high patriarch of course.'_

_'Of course.' Claire said with no humour._

_Sarah leaned back against a fake plastic tree and peered at Claire. 'So, what's the plan?'_

_'The plan?'_

_'Yeah. I saw you reassuring K that you wouldn't leave her behind. So I'm guessing you're not going to leave the rest of us here.' She gazed at Claire with hopeful smile._

_The redhead sighed. 'We don't have a plan yet. I'd rather persuade him that it's better if we all leave than have to do anything by force though. So Carlos will try and talk to him and I'll think of alternatives.' She shrugged, picking at some of the fake grass on the platform they sat on. 'I'll figure something out.'_

_'Perhaps I can help.'_

_Claire hesitated, then nodded and looked up at Sarah. 'Yeah, perhaps you can.'_

Shaking her head to clear her mind, Claire pointed the binoculars towards the motel again, but her memories wouldn't leave. She thought back to how the crazy store manager had refused to listen, had become violent when Sarah had shown Carlos and Claire what little food they had left, and how in the end everything had been decided for them when LJ called over the radio: 'Guys, I hate to break up the party in there, but we've got company.' The manager had tried to keep them in, but it was his loyal security guard who shot him in the leg and left him in the building screaming for them to come back. The undead had swarmed in from the back of the store, Claire and Sarah had been the last to leave; knocking over the flame torches behind them and barricading the doors to give them time to get everyone into the vehicles.

_Everyone rushed to find space in the bus and the army truck. Carlos had the hummer started and ready to go, but Sarah pulled Claire and K-Mart towards an old battered Jeep._

_'Mine,' she explained proudly. 'I've been ready packed to leave for days before you even arrived, but I couldn't leave without the others. I guess you were the miracle I prayed for.'_

_Sarah put the jeep into gear and they sped away from the now-burning store behind them. Claire regretted the supplies they could have taken if it hadn't been for the undead. All that waste just because one man didn't want to relinquish his imagined control over a bunch of children and women, she thought as she lit a cigarette._

_'Hey, mind if I steal one of those? Mine are in the back.' Without waiting for an answer, Sarah reached over and took Claire's pack of cigarettes. Her fingers brushed against Claire's as she did, and the redhead's stomach flipped again. Sarah shot her a half smile, 'You got a light?' She made no attempt to take the offered lighter, so Claire moved to light the cigarette for her. Sarah put her hand around Claire's to shield the flame; the redhead blinked, she felt totally taken apart by this woman she had only met two days ago._

Shots from inside the motel woke Claire from her thoughts with a jolt and she spoke into the radio again. 'What happened? You two okay?'

'Yeah. It's all clear.'

'Okay, great.' Claire was still distracted by the memories.

'LJ got a knock on the head, we need Betty down here.'

'Right.'

After checking that Betty had heard the call, Claire started sending the others in to scour the motel for supplies.

'Spread out. Look for anything of use. Gas, food, ammo. You know the drill.' The adults and older children spread out as Claire instructed, while she and K-Mart, Otto and the younger kids started setting up the trucks and tents for the night.

_Sarah proved to be really good at organising the nightly campsites, making sure that the children all had enough blankets, and resolving any arguments between children and adults alike. Right now she and Claire were rooting around in the back of the army truck, trying to find some extra sleeping bags for the three people the convoy had found cowering in the back room of a gas station that afternoon._

_'So what did you do, you know, before..?' Claire wasn't listening, she was thinking about the number of vehicles the convoy had, and how to most efficiently keep enough of them running for the long-term future._

_'Sorry, what?' She said, and Sarah repeated her question._

_'Oh, I, well I guess I just kind of drifted. I didn't really settle on anything, though I was at university for a while. Played with motorbikes, learned to fly planes and helicopters; I guess just tried to show my big brother that I was at least as cool as him.' Claire was surprised at the question; people didn't usually ask about things like that these days. Because it took her off-guard, she answered more fully than she usually would have. 'What about you?'_

_'I worked on a ranch. We raised cows and horses - I worked with the horses mostly.' Her tone changed slightly and Claire sat back on her heels and looked at her. Sarah seemed sad - an odd expression on her bright face, but she shook it off quickly. 'Man I was going crazy cooped up in that store, even if the world's dead, I'd rather be out here and on the move!' She flashed a grin at Claire who couldn't help but grin back. She could well believe that this dark haired, dark eyed girl could have worked on a ranch; although shorter than Claire, she was probably stronger and had an attitude to make up for what she lacked in height._

_'What about family?' Claire asked in what she hoped came across as a casual tone._

_Sarah shook her head. 'I hadn't spoken to my family for years before the virus broke out. I don't know what happened to them.' She paused and looked at Claire with an amused expression. 'But that's not what you meant, is it?'_

_Claire blushed and turned away, suddenly very interested in the contents of the kit bag she had just finished sorting through. 'Whatever.'_

_'No, I had no other family, or anyone really. Never had time for it.' Sarah opened a canvas sports bag. 'Oh hey, here. Sleeping bags.'_

Claire retreated to the hummer for a while to collect her thoughts before heading back out to check everything was running smoothly for the evening. She was exhausted in all possible ways - physically of course, but mentally and emotionally as well. She knew the memories she had of Sarah were spurred by the bleakness of their current situation; just as she knew the convoy desperately needed a miracle right about now.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Resident Evil characters or the storyline and dialogue I've based this around. Sadly.**

'Pork and beans.' Otto shook a can with no label then handed it to one of the convoy members waiting in line by the back of the army truck. 'I'll get some peaches for the little one there.' He shook a couple of different cans then handed one to the next woman in line. 'There you go.'

The following one was deemed to be asparagus, but Otto stopped after shaking the next one.

'For you...' he paused and shook the can again, a thoughtful expression on his face, then handed it to the little boy in front of him '...cat food.' The kid's face fell and Otto laughed 'Just kidding. It's pork and beans.' The boy rolled his eyes at Otto's attempt at humour and Otto grinned.

'Hey.' He saw Claire and handed her the next can. 'Soup. Cream of mushroom.'

'Bullshit!' Claire opened the can and sniffed the contents. 'I'll be damned.' She smiled. 'How do you do that?'

'Just one of my skills.' Otto continued to hand out cans. 'It's a dying art, unfortunately. This is, uuh, this is the last of it.'

Claire's eyes mirrored the concern in Otto's face. She nodded and turned away, all mirth drained from their conversation. She handed the can of soup to one of the children waiting in the line as she passed. She could wait until tomorrow to eat.

Otto watched her leave, as he passed a can to one of the kids. 'I think it's some kind of fruit.'

'Thanks, Otto.'

For a moment he thought about calling her back, making her take a can of food for herself, but he knew she would ignore him.

_Otto lifted the last crate onto the back of the truck with Sarah's help. K-Mart was sorting through some other boxes for things that might still be edible. Most of it was mouldy though._

_'Hey,' Claire came up behind them with a small box of batteries and torch bulbs, which she placed in the truck._

_'Hey, you hungry?' Otto tossed a can from one of the 'Corned Beef' crates at Claire, and she caught it deftly._

_'I...no, not really.' She started to hand the can back to Otto, but Sarah turned round and put her hand on Claire's arm._

_'Oh no, not today. We have plenty for everyone for a few weeks now, so no more skipping meals for the good of the others.' She looked Claire sternly in the eyes and the redhead gave in to the dark brown gaze._

_'Fine.'_

_'That's my girl!' Sarah laughed and whirled round to pick up a can of beans from one of the crates. 'We'll have a proper meal tonight. You in, K?'_

_The blonde didn't answer immediately, continuing to root around in the box. 'Hang on...I think...oh yeah.' She looked up and held something out to them triumphantly. 'Twinkies!'_

Otto suddenly realised one of the convoy adults was asking for soup instead of fruit and he started out of his thoughts, and glanced at the crates behind him - only fruit left. 'Sorry, that's all we have.'

Seeing Chase standing on the top of the tanker, Claire walked over that way. 'Did you check out the gas station yet?' She called up to him.

'Yep, it's bone-dry.'

Claire found Chase hard to deal with. He reminded her of things she wanted to forget - but that wasn't his fault. She sighed. 'Well, how we looking here?'

'Well, Claire, if we can run these trucks on rust...' He looked meaningfully at the end of the metal pole he'd been using to check the levels in the tanker, '...we're looking pretty good.'

Claire frowned. 'All right.' She turned away, trying to block the things Chase reminded her of out of her mind before the memories could break her focus again.

_They were finding survivors less and less often now, radioed calls for help often just led to a store or house with a broken window or door - and only the undead inside. Or a vehicle overturned at the side of the road, overrun when the gas ran out. Claire sometimes wondered if they should keep responding to calls, but then how else could she look for her brother? The more survivors, the more likely she'd get word or maybe he'd hear of the convoy. Plus, the guilt of not knowing if an ignored call was genuine or not would be too much for her._

_'Claire.' Sarah knocked on the jeep window. She'd been manning the radio since about midnight, when Claire had headed to get some sleep. That was a few hours ago, but Claire hadn't slept._

_The redhead opened the door and scooted over to the other seat so Sarah could get in. 'What's up?'_

_'There's a call from not far from here, five people holed up in a house. Perhaps we could go check it out?'_

_'Okay. What else?' Claire could see that Sarah had something else she wanted to say, and the dark-haired woman chewed on her lip for a moment._

_'I think,' she paused, 'I think I know the guy who's speaking on the broadcast. He worked with me. Chase, he's called.'_

_'A good guy?_

_'He'd sure be useful, and yeah, he's a good man.' She saw the look that flickered across Claire's face. 'Not __**that **__good, Claire.'_

_The redhead blushed and fumbled with the handheld radio. 'Right, well, I'll get Carlos in on this too, we'll take the truck.'_

'Hey, sweetheart.' Mikey met Claire as he finished fixing the last of the electrics and jumped down from the roof of the van and she smiled at the joking tone in his Australian accent despite her sad thoughts.

'Perimeter up yet?' She asked as they climbed through the sliding side door.

The blonde lad peered at the screens in front of him. 'It's almost done.'

'Who's out there?'

'Olivera.' Mikey turned to another screen, setting up the radio broadcast for the night, Claire grabbed the radio handset from the main transmitter.

'Hey, Carlos.'

'Claire.' The crackly voice came over the radio, the sound of the quad's engines in the background.

'All that smoking is slowing you down. Get your ass in gear, old man. I want my perimeter up.' She didn't need to listen over the radio to know Carlos was laughing. He enjoyed that quad bike altogether too much; but then again, how much was there to enjoy these days?

'Last sentinel in place.' The computer screen in front of Mikey showed the camera images from around the campsite. A small display showed that the laser alarm system was armed.

Mikey turned to Claire. 'Perimeter's up and running. All motion sensors online. Cameras 100 percent.'

Claire remembered the long nights before they had found Mikey in his van, out of gas, at the side of the road. He had been able to set up the motion sensor system so they didn't need five or six lookouts every night. The cameras had been Carlos' set up, but until Mikey and the alarms, Claire had never really trusted them - they were only as useful as the person keeping an eye on the images.

They gathered around the fire; Claire, Mikey, K-Mart, Carlos, Chase and Otto. Claire wished she could be more involved with the other people in the convoy, but they all looked at her with some kind of hopeful awe. Like she was really going to save them. Sarah had been the one who they'd all gone to with problems, and not for the first time that day Claire felt like she was only half a person - half a leader for these people.

One by one everyone drifted off, eventually leaving just Claire and Carlos sitting by the fire. They were silent for a while, then Carlos cleared his throat.

'So Claire, what's wrong?'

'I'm just tired.' She started to stand up as if to head to bed but Carlos put a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to sit down again.

'Don't lie, Redfield.' He looked stern but his eyes were soft and kind. 'You've been off all day, and you've just sat here for two hours and not said a word.'

Sighing, Claire poked at the fire before she answered. 'I miss her, Carlos.'

'Sarah.' It wasn't a question but Claire nodded anyway.

'I don't think I can be the leader these people need anymore. She was the one who kept us all together, you know that.'

Carlos looked thoughtful for a moment. 'No. I don't believe that.' He waited until Claire looked at him before he continued. 'Look, I know things are rough right now, but our luck's gotta turn eventually, right? Just keep it together for a bit longer. We'll get through this, I know it.'

Claire smiled at the empty encouragement. Carlos never lost his optimism or hope. Hell, he'd been hoping for the mysterious 'Alice' he talked about all the time to come and save them for years. Claire couldn't help but mention that now.

'Your Alice going to come and give us our miracle, huh?'

Carlos grinned. 'You never know, Redfield. She's-'

'-Amazing! Yeah, I've heard it all before.'

'I was going to say 'incredible' but that works too.' Carlos took no offence, he knew everyone thought him mad for his belief in Alice. They sat in comfortable silence watching the fire burn down until the wind whistling through the broken telegraph cables made Claire look up. 'Storm, Carlos.' He was already on his feet. The dust storms in the desert were violent and picked up quickly.

'Storm's coming! Let's start packing it up and move it inside.' The storm was already whipping sand across the campsite, and Claire hurried the survivors into their vehicles.

'Put this fire out.' No-one went for the fire, so Claire kicked sand over it herself, then headed back towards the hummer. She paused at a sudden thought, and shone her torch in through the door of the motel. Yes! She thought as the beam flickered over a cigarette vending machine - but it was short lived hope as the machine turned out to be empty on closer inspection.

A sudden crash made her whirl around, her hand going for her gun. Not there! It was sitting on the seat of the hummer, and Claire swallowed, the torch beam looking for the infected who must be lurking behind the motel counter.

It was only a lamp, blown over by the wind and Claire breathed a deep sigh - relief combined with what might have been disappointment, if she was honest with herself. She was tired, and losing her drive for this kind of life. Though that was no excuse for being careless and leaving her gun behind when going into a dark building, even one that had been cleared earlier. K-Mart would never forgive her for getting herself killed. She smiled at that thought and headed back to the hummer, her hand over her eyes and nose against the sand storm.

'Hey.' K-Mart was sitting in the backseat of the yellow vehicle, sorting through some pieces of wire and yarn to make another bracelet.

Claire fished around in her pants pockets until she found a bundle of brightly coloured wire. 'Here, Mikey gave me this for you earlier.' She tossed it onto the seat next to the girl and K-Mart grinned.

'Awesome!' She picked out a yellow plastic-covered wire from the new bundle and started twisting it around a red piece she had already.

Claire smiled and settled herself in the front seat as comfortably as possible. 'Don't stay up too long, okay?'

'Sure thing, Claire. Sleep well.'

Claire grunted at the thought of an actual good night's sleep and pulled her hat down over her eyes.

'This is Claire Redfield's convoy. Location, the Desert Trail Motel, Lat. 35, long. 114. Calling any survivors.'

Out in the desert, someone heard Mikey's voice broadcasting over the radio.

_'You know, you really ought to get more sleep.' Claire hadn't heard Sarah walk up beside her. She'd been leaning back against the jeep, staring up at the full moon and thinking about the brunette who now sat cross-legged on the jeep's hood._

_'Sure, I'd like that. A nice warm bed, after a hot meal that didn't come out of a can, and maybe even a bath.'_

_'With bubbles?'_

_Claire grinned. 'Yeah, with bubbles.'_

_'And maybe someone to keep you warm in the bed?' Claire shot Sarah an amused look at this comment, and the brunette's brown eyes shone in the light from the moon._

_'And that.' Claire agreed after a moment._

_Sarah chewed on the inside of her lip for a moment, then spoke in a quieter tone. 'The back of jeep is pretty comfortable, you know.' She paused. 'I just mean, if you want to catch up on some rest. Now we have the motion sensors and the alarm we don't need as many on watch, I reckon Carlos and LJ can handle it, and I'll keep lookout too if you want.' She was speaking too fast, too much, she knew, and her voice trailed off into silence._

_The redhead turned around to face Sarah sitting on the hood, but her courage failed her; she didn't know what to say. But the brunette reached out and, taking hold of Claire's hand, gently pulled her closer. She was ready to let go if Claire resisted, but there was none. Claire placed her free hand on Sarah's waist and the dark haired girl leaned in closer, slowly, never taking her eyes off Claire's until their lips touched._

_A giggle from behind Claire made the pair draw apart and the redhead whirled around. K-Mart and one of the younger kids were watching from behind a half-dead bush, the blonde eleven-year old now telling the little boy off for giggling. She saw Claire looking their way and the mischievious pair ran back to the school bus, laughing. Sarah jumped off the jeep and caught hold of Claire's arm before the redhead decided to go after the kids. _

_'Everyone'll know by tomorrow.' Sarah laughed but Claire looked concerned. 'It doesn't matter if they know. Plus, I reckon most everyone knew something was up already.' Claire blushed at this, but then grinned mnischieviously._

_'Fine then, let's give them something to really talk about.' She pulled Sarah with her to the back of the jeep and they climbed in, laughing. _

_The blankets Sarah had collected were cosy indeed, Claire thought as she drifted into a deeper sleep than she'd had for a long time; safe and warm with her arms wrapped around the smaller woman._

'Claire!'

The redhead was awake instantly, only briefly disorientated at the sound of the crow and K-Mart's voice. 'What?' K-Mart didn't answer but Claire noticed the crows surrounding the vehicles without prompting. She slowly reached for her radio and clicked it on.

'Carlos.' She spoke softly, warning in her tone.

'I see them. Everybody stay in your trucks.' The accented voice was also quiet.

'What's going on?' That was from Chase.

'Everyone just stay in your trucks. Roll up the windows and keep quiet.' Claire checked the hummer windows were all closed.

'What's wrong with their eyes?' K-Mart was peering through the windscreen at the crow on the hood.

Claire looked as well, and recognised the bulging bloodshoot eye. 'They've been feeding on infected flesh.' She had known dogs could be infected, but birds?

Something in the school bus had attracted the attention of the flock of crows, and Claire decided the best thing would be to get gone from there for now. They could come back for the perimeter hardware and anything else later.

'Fire it up. Let's get out of here.' Claire spoke louder than she intended into the radio, but it didn't matter, all the vehicle engines started at once and drowned out the end of her sentence.

The hummer headed out first, Claire concentrating on the ground ahead of them, but they hadn't gone far before K-Mart shouted. She had been watching the other vehicles leaving behind them and saw the bus drive into a light pole.

Claire looked round. 'Damn it.' She grabbed her radio. 'Mikey, Carlos, we have to evac the bus.'

K-Mart stayed in the hummer during the attack, she heard the shouting, saw Otto fall from the bus, then everything fell silent as the strange woman showed up and set the sky alight - every crow was incinerated. She glanced at Claire - the redhead was frowning slightly at the scene in the motel courtyard, at Carlos holding the collapsed woman. Claire and K-Mart both knew who that was; she couldn't be anyone other than Alice.

_K-Mart knocked on the window of the jeep with one of the cans she was carrying. 'Guys, I have breakfast... you awake?'_

_Without waiting for an answer, she opened the door and jumped onto the front seat. Peering over the front seat she held out a can to the half-awake Sarah. 'Morning!' she said brightly. 'Did you both sleep well?' She grinned mischieviously._

_Claire pulled herself upright and took the can K-Mart held out to Sarah._

_'It's fruit salad I think. You'll have to share though or get your own, Otto wouldn't believe that I was getting breakfast for three.'_

_'We can share.' Sarah said, sitting up and leaning against the back door of the jeep. 'Morning,' she said shyly to Claire, who smiled back equally as shy._

_'Still dressed at least.' _

_'K!' Claire and Sarah cried together, and the tension was broken. Claire kissed Sarah on the cheek just briefly as she handed her the open can of fruit. 'Good morning. I slept well, you know.'_

_'Me too.' They grinned stupidly at each other for a moment._

_'You know what I miss?' the blonde girl asked suddenly from the front seat, where she was poking at her can of pineapple._

_'What's that, K?' Sarah asked._

_'Cereal. Extra sugary brightly coloured cereal. I used to mix up all kinds and spend Saturday and Sunday mornings driving my parents crazy because I was so hyperactive.'_

_Claire smiled and settled herself next to Sarah. 'I reckon you were a real terror to your parents, huh?'_

_K-Mart nodded. 'Yeah, I guess I was.' She sighed and the corners of her mouth pulled down briefly. 'Now I wish I'd been less of a handful.'_

_They ate in silence for a few minutes, then Sarah spoke. 'Oh, K, I forgot. I found you a present.' She turned to dig around in one of the army-style kit bags at the side of the jeep._

_'A present?' the blonde looked surprised._

_'Here!' Sarah passed a slightly mouldy box to K-Mart. Claire peered curiously at it but couldn't see what it was. 'Thought it might keep you occupied.' Claire smiled to herself; K-Mart didn't really do so well without things to keep her mind - and hands - busy._

_'A jewellery making kit? That's so cool! Thanks Sarah.'_

_Claire saw Sarah's happy smile, though K-Mart did not because she was far too busy poking through the box and the beads, wire and brightly coloured thread contained within._

K-Mart noticed that Alice was stirring, at last. 'Hi.'

'Hey.' Alice paused, getting her bearings as she awoke fully. 'This belong to you?' The tall woman was touching the thick bracelet that K-Mart had tied on her wrist while she was in her feverish sleep earlier.

The blonde teenager felt suddenly shy now that this woman with her curious powers was awake, and her smile wavered just slightly. 'I gave it to you last night. For luck.'

'Thank you. What's your name?'

'K-Mart.' She grinned at Alice's reaction. 'It's where they found me; Claire and the others...' Her voice trailed off and her grin faded, as if there was something else that was too painful to mention. She shook it off though. 'A few years back.'

'Do you have another name?'

'Never liked it. Everyone I knew was dead...so it seemed like time for a change.'

Alice couldn't fault that logic.

'I'm supposed to tell Claire and Carlos when you wake up.' K-Mart stood up and started to head for the door.

'Wait, I'll come, I feel...rested.' Alice did look much better than the previous day, when Carlos and K-Mart had settled her in the little motel office to sleep after the crow attack. Carlos hadn't said much about her, just watched her sleep with a worried frown on his face.

The pair found most of the remaining surviours huddled together around the graves of Otto, Betty and the other people who had been killed by the crows.

'Anyone want to say something?' the redheaded woman was saying as they approached. Alice touched K-Mart on the arm and gave her an encouraging smile, leaving her to join Carlos.

Carlos introduced her to the redhead after the funeral. Funerals were common these days, Alice thought. Common and short.

'Alice, this is Claire Redfield. She's the one who put this convoy together.'

The two women shook hands warily, 'Thank you so much for your help.' said Claire, looking directly into Alice's pale eyes for a moment, trying to figure out if she might be dangerous to the convoy. There was only sadness and determination there, which could as easily have just been a mirror image of Claire's own expression.

'Claire!' K-Mart called, and Claire nodded at her then turned back to Alice and Carlos.

'Excuse me. I have things I have to attend to.'

Alice watched the redheaded woman leave with a thoughtful expression. She seemed pretty young to have organised all these survivors together like this, and Alice found herself intruigued by this Claire Redfield.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Quite a bit shorter than the last two, because I had issues with where to break the story up!**

**Disclaimer: Yep, really don't own any of the RE script, plot or characters.**

That lopsided half-smile was about the only thing Alice had in common with Sarah, Claire thought as she watched the tall woman talking with Carlos by the truck. But just as it had with Sarah, the curved lips drew Claire's curiosity. Amd those eyes, with their haunted fragile gaze. What had that woman been through? And what kind of threat might she pose for the rest of them. Curious as she was, she couldn't find reason to trust Alice, and she knew everyone was talking in fearful tones about the way this stranger had set fire to the sky.

Carlos noticed her standing there and waved her over to join them, but Claire shook her head. There was that half-smile again, directed towards herthis time, shyly, maybe even hopefully? No, that was ridiculous. But her stomach flipped anyway, and she felt a blush rise in her cheeks as she turned away.

Focus! Claire thought savagely to herself. This is not the time for this kind of thing! But then again...her roving eyes rested on the ambulance shared by LJ and Betty every night and in her mind's eye she saw Sarah's old jeep that had eventually broken down beyond repair a few months ago. She missed that jeep.

_Claire became aware of someone standing behind her and as she turned around Sarah sat down next to her. 'How are you doing?' she asked softly._

_'I'll live.' Claire answered shortly. 'More than those kids can say.' She snapped the last words, but immediately regretted it, sighing deeply._

_'I'm sorry, I guess you want some space.' Sarah got up to go, but Claire reached out and caught her arm quickly._

_'No, please stay.' Sarah stood still for a moment, and Claire let go, worried she was still angry with her for missing the warning signs earlier; causing the convoy to lose three children to the infected hounds. Or had she been angry with Sarah for that? She couldn't remember. The dark haired woman took a deep breath and turned to sit down again, closer this time, her hand on the ground right next to Claire's. They sat in silence for a while, staring into the fire and not looking at each other until Claire felt Sarah's hand move to rest over her own. As their fingers entwined, Claire looked up and all thoughts of blame for the attack were forgotten when she saw Sarah's tear-streaked face in the firelight._

_'Claire...' she began, but Claire leaned in and kissed the other woman's cheeks, forehead, lips, silencing any words of apology or indeed sympathy that might have come next._

_'Don't.' She whispered and kissed Sarah again, more fiercely, desperate to forget the day's events. Sarah responded in kind, and they clung to each other until until the sadness had begun to ease. _

_Sarah stood up then, an odd frown on her face - nervousness? She held a hand out to Claire, 'You coming?' she asked quietly._

_'I...yes.' Standing up and taking Sarah's offered hand, Claire allowed herself to be lead towards the jeep and into the back. They knelt together on the mess of blankets and pillows, unwilling to let go of each other until Sarah broke the embrace and sat back on her heels, looking at the redhead._

_'What's wrong?' Claire asked gently, and Sarah blushed._

_'It's just been a really long time, you know?' She smiled ruefully and dropped her eyes to look at her hands holding Claire's._

_'Oh.' Claire grinned at the suddenly nervous Sarah - usually so bold and outspoken, 'It's okay, I think I can remember how this works.' She pulled Sarah closer and kissed her confidently, shrugging out of her over shirt. Her hands moved to rest on the other woman's hips - bonier than they should be, though she knew no-one else was doing any better on the rationed food. Her fingers ran gently over Sarah's waist, and under the loose t-shirt she wore, on it the name of some now-dead music group. Sarah hesitated for a moment, then let her own fingers begin to explore Claire's arms, back; each rib far too obvious. She took hold of the bottom of Claire's vest, pulling it up and off when Claire, smiling with some amusement at the return of the brunette's confidence, lifted her arms._

_'I guess it's not something you forget so easily after all.' Claire whispered close to Sarah's ear and she felt the other woman's laugh under her fingertips resting again at her waist. _

Claire allowed herself to smile over that particular memory. They had not allowed themselves enough of those nights, her and Sarah. There had always been things keeping them from their bed until far too late, and they were both too exhausted. She regretted that, and missed having someone she could be herself with; not just a leader. The others all wanted something from her all the time, Sarah had just been there - anything she had wanted Claire had been only too willing to give.

'What are you grinning about?'

Claire whirled around to find Mikey leaning up against the vehicle she was hiding behind.

'And why are you lurking around my van?' He had a grin full of mischief on his face which reminded Claire so much of her brother that she had to stop herself from slapping the Australian as she would have Chris.

'I just needed a moment to clear my head.' Claire's words sounded feeble even to her, but Mikey nodded and peered over to where Carlos was still talking with Alice.

'The tall beautiful stranger giving you grief?'

'What?' Claire spoke too loudly and felt the blush creeping back up her face.

'Everyone's talking about her you know.' Mikey seemed oblivious of Claire's flustered reaction to his question. 'Wondering how she did what she did.'

Claire got her face back into a neutral expression and nodded. 'I know. I'm going to have a word with her.'

Mikey raised an eyebrow and the infuriating grin was back on his face; but the look Claire shot him as she walked away made him reconsider anything he'd been about to say.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Yep, really don't own any of the RE script, plot or characters.  
**

_The spirits of everyone in the convoy were high that night, they had found a gas station earlier which although small, hadn't been looted yet. It was years already since the outbreak, and supplies and fuel was starting to become more scarce. Sarah and K-Mart had been in the convoy for over two years at least by this time, Claire was sure._

_K-Mart sat in the front seat of the jeep, making another bracelet; or maybe it had been a necklace, her memory failed her on that. Claire was cleaning her guns on the back seat, and Sarah was watching, telling them some story from her life before the virus. Claire couldn't remember the story now, but it had been funny, because K-Mart was laughing when Mikey's voice came over the radio._

_'Claire, Carlos! The perimeter's been breached.'_

_'Dammit,' Claire reached forward for the radio and clicked it on. 'Tell everyone to stay in the vehicles, I'm going to go check it out. Carlos, LJ, you there?'_

_Answers in the affirmative came from the two men in their respective vehicles._

_'Alright, meet us outside.' She replaced the radio and spoke to K-Mart. 'Stay here, okay?' K-Mart nodded nervously, and Claire put a hand on her shoulder. 'Just don't let anyone in, you'll be fine. Sarah, let's go.' She cautiously opened the jeep door, gun at the ready._

_Before following, Sarah placed a handgun on the front seat next to K-Mart. 'Shoot first, then call for help.' She shot a parting grin at the teenager and left with her rifle in hand._

_Claire and Sarah stood side by side in front of the doors to the church they had stopped by for the night. The scouts had said it was clear, but this was surely where the first one, now dead at their feet, had come from._

_'Oh shit...oh SHIT!' Claire swore loudly as the undead ran at them out of the dark. She couldn't count them in the gloom, but there seemed to be shapes moving all around them. 'Where are the spotlights, Mikey?' she hissed into her handheld radio, panic welling up inside her. Sarah put a steadying hand on her shoulder._

_'Easy, girl. We'll get through this.' It was that low gentle voice that Claire always imagined she had used to calm the horses in her former life, and it calmed the redhead now. She took a deep breath and focused her attention on the monsters coming out of the building. As she opened fire, she stole a quick glance beside her and noticed that Sarah was smiling._

Claire couldn't shake that smile from her mind. She wasn't even sure if it was a real memory - memories of Sarah had become rose-tinted in her mind, she knew that. It wasn't because of Sarah that things had been better - easier - back then, it simply **was** just easier. There were more survivors, more people to help them, and most importantly: more food and fuel.

Sighing, she turned to find Alice. She'd been putting this conversation off, but she had to talk to the strange woman who had set fire to the sky. Spotting her leaning against one of the empty gas pumps, Claire strode over.

'Got a minute?' The woman must not have heard her walk up, because she jumped and her eyes took a moment to focus back to reality. _Lost in her thoughts too?_ Claire wondered.

'Yeah.' Alice looked nervous, fragile even, and Claire almost changed the words she had been rehearsing in her head.

'Everyone is grateful for you helping us out.' The redhead started but Alice cut her off.

'But how long am I gonna stay?'

'Don't get me wrong. We really are grateful. But they're all talking about what you did, and they're scared.' Claire hoped she sounded apologetic.

'I don't blame them. People have a habit of dying around me.' The older woman spoke bitterly.

Claire sighed, glancing at the fresh graves from the crow attack, 'Not just you.' The two women looked at each other for a moment in understanding, and Alice opened her mouth to speak. But Claire shook her head and turned away towards the hummer before the older woman had a chance to start; Claire couldn't listen to empty comfort right now. She rested her head against the metal of the vehicle door, sinking into her thoughts again.

_They didn't lose as many in the attack as Claire had feared. Every loss weighed on her conscience but this could have been so much worse. She found Sarah sitting in the back of the jeep with the door open and smiled. 'Hey you.' She reached out to take Sarah's hand but the look in the other girl's eyes made her pause and then stop dead. 'What? What's wrong?' She got no answer at first. 'Is it K-Mart? Is she okay? Sarah?' The last word was almost a whisper as she stepped forward and put her hand on Sarah's cheek, forcing her to look at Claire._

_'Claire, I'm-' Sarah paused, 'I'm so sorry. I wasn't quick enough.' She pulled her jacket off her shoulder and showed Claire the bite wound. Her face stayed impassive, but the spark was gone from her eyes._

_Claire felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. She swallowed, trying to breathe; her knees turned to jelly and she sank to the ground outside the jeep._

_The fever spread through Sarah's body fast. By that evening she was pale and shaking - though how much from fear she didn't say. 'You know what you have to do, right? Claire?' She spoke matter-of-factly, but there was sadness and fear in her voice that made Claire's heart break._

_'I can't, Sarah. I really can't.' She whispered. 'Carlos...'_

_'Please!' Sarah's voice almost had a note of panic in it now and her eyes were pleading. 'I want it to be you.'_

_'It's not fair.' Claire whimpered and clung to Sarah as if by holding her she could make everything right again._

_'We need to go.' Sarah's voice was hardly her own anymore and Claire knew she was right. She felt sick but helped her lover walk out into the desert. Carlos watched them go, then turned to find K-Mart standing behind him. That girl was good at sneaking up on people he thought wryly._

_'Where are they going? Is Sarah okay?' K-Mart's eyes were wide and Carlos swallowed; they hadn't told K?_

_'Sarah...got hurt. You stay here with me okay? Until Claire gets back.' He regretted that choice of words immediately when he saw the understanding in K-Mart's face. He reached out to grab her, to stop her, but too late; she ran into the dark after Claire and Sarah._

_'I can't go further.' Sarah stumbled and fell on to the sand. Claire knelt next to her, holding her gun in her lap. They both looked at it, then at each other. 'I'm sorry.' Sarah said again. Claire just nodded, holding back her emotions. They held each other close for a moment, kissed, looked at each other. 'I loved you, you know that?' Claire nodded, she couldn't speak. Sarah seemed calm now, but the redhead felt like her world was ending. Again._

_'I will always love you.' Claire said finally, but Sarah just smiled._

_'No, you won't. You'll get on with things, you always do. Look after K-Mart, okay?' Claire nodded, and stood up. 'Promise me,' Sarah had that note of panic in her voice again, 'You promise me you'll keep on, looking after the others, finding a way to survive?'_

_'I promise,' Claire said and looked directly in Sarah's eyes as she raised her gun._

_'SARAH!' K-Mart screamed but the gunshot drowned out her voice. She stumbled but picked herself up, carried on running, seeing Sarah crumple to the ground, and Claire fall to her knees next to her dead partner. Through her tears in the dusky gloom, K-Mart saw Claire raising the gun again and she launched herself at the redheaded woman. 'Claire, NO!' She clung to Claire, forcing her to lower the gun. 'We need you! We need you here. I need you here.' She begged, her arms wrapped around Claire, sobbing._

_'What the hell,K? You could have gotten yourself killed!' Claire allowed her grief to become anger at the blonde teenager, who now stared at her through tear-filled eyes, a look of shock and horror on her face. K-Mart looked away, at the gun, back at Claire - anywhere but at Sarah._

_Seeing the blonde's tears, the realisation of what she had been about to do hit Claire and she felt sick suddenly. _

_She pulled K-Mart into a tight hug. 'I'm sorry, K, I'm so sorry.'_

_They clung to each other, both crying in deep sobs, the dusky gloom slowly pressing in around them._

_K-Mart spoke first, tentatively, 'Claire, we should get back to the camp, it'll be dark soon.' She stood up and helped the older woman to her feet, supporting her as they walked back to the collection of vehicles. Carlos stood up when he saw them approaching but K-Mart just guided Claire to the jeep and helped her climb into the back, into Sarah's bed. She still held Claire's gun, and when she turned back to Carlos she handed the metal object to him. 'Could you deal with, umm, deal with...' Carlos saved her from having to say it._

_'Of course, kid. You'll need to look after Claire though, you okay with that?' He put a hand under K-Mart's chin and tilted her face up to look at him. 'You're a strong person, you know.' He turned away in the direction Claire and Sarah had gone an hour before and didn't see the blush rise up the teenager's face._

_The bundle of blankets that was Claire was silent but K-Mart knew she wouldn't be asleep. She settled herself in the front of the jeep, talking as she did so, 'Hey Claire, I'm just going to sleep up here in front, so you're not alone right now, you know? I think you need someone here. You need anything you just say, okay? Claire?' She wasn't surprised when she got no answer from the back of the vehicle._

_Claire had stayed away from everyone except K-Mart for the next few days. She couldn't bear to see the looks from the people who knew what she'd done - she didn't think they could understand. Carlos and LJ kept the convoy moving - LJ driving Sarah's jeep - Mikey made sure the camps were set right, that everyone was fed and warm. And K-Mart looked after Claire - she stayed in the jeep, sleeping in the front at night. Claire knew she was being selfish, but she couldn't find the strength to care anymore._

_But nothing had really changed, and the first time they stopped for supplies, finding the place full of the undead Claire appeared from the jeep with the old Mossberg rifle and a knife tucked in her belt - Sarah's knife, Sarah's rifle._

_She felt better after the fight; more alive again, and more able to cope with her grief and guilt. Slowly she took over her old role as the convoy leader, and slipped into the place that Sarah left in K-Mart's life, looking after the teenager as a younger sister. But although they talked about Sarah, no-one ever mentioned what had happened in the desert, and for that Claire was grateful. Especially to K-Mart for not telling anyone how close they'd been to losing Claire as well._

'Hey.' Claire started, much as Alice had done, and spun around to find K-Mart standing at her side. 'You okay?'

'Just tired.' The redhead smiled as cheerfully as she could. 'What's up?'

K-Mart didn't look convinced by Claire's false smile, but she let it pass. 'Alice and Carlos wanted to speak with you. Said Alice has something you should see.'

'Oh?' Depsite her confusion and misgivings about the woman, Claire couldn't ignore this and followed K-Mart to the army truck where Carlos, Mikey, Chase and of course Alice, were waiting. Climbing up into the vehicle she gave Alice a curt nod and then turned to give K-Mart a hand up to sit beside her.

'Here.' Carlos threw a small notebook on Claire's lap and she looked at it in confusion for a moment.

'What's this?'

'There's evidence of survivors - no, not just survivors; a haven with no infection.' Carlos' face was brimming with childish excitement.

'Seriously?' Claire flipped through the notebook. 'Wait, this says it's in Alaska?' Nods in the affirmative came from the others in the truck. She handed the book to Mikey and shook her head. 'There's no way we can get that far.'

'Claire, this sequence of transmissions, it's the best indication of life we've seen in months.' The blonde Australian sounded hopeful.

'Alaska?' Claire repeated doubtfully.

'We have to check it out. We can't just ignore it.' Mikey was insistent.

'Any idea what kind of journey that would be?' Claire spoke as if to a child who had no concept of distance.

'Yup. A long one.' Chase said drily.

Claire glared at him, 'And at the end of it, what? You have no guarantee there's even anyone alive up there.'

'These transmissions say that...' Mikey tried again but Claire cut him off irritably.

'They're dated six months ago. How many radio broadcasts have we responded to?' She paused to look around at the others and her voice dropped to a sad whisper. 'How many times have we got there too late?'

'The transmissions say that there's no infection up there. It's isolated. Safe.' Alice looked nervous of having spoken up, Claire thought. She frowned at the woman. Again her doubts broke to the surface of her mind: this was really the strong person Carlos had spoken of so often?

'This convoy trusts me with their lives.' Claire needed to explain the pressure she felt from leading the convoy. 'These people don't need pipe dreams.' She spoke as if that was the end of the conversation but Carlos had more to say.

'Maybe that's exactly what they need.' He spoke gently, but Claire felt like he was betraying her. 'Look at them, Claire.'

He paused and Claire automatically followed his command; taking in the sight of the thin, tired surviors dressed in dusty rags.

'Six months ago, there were fifty of us, then forty, now there's less than thirty. They're starting to give up. They need some kind of hope.'

Claire sighed and looked around at the faces of the people she trusted most in the world. And Alice - her gaze lingered on Alice. She was beautiful, just as Carlos had said. And maybe her thoughts about her had been wrong: she had strength, she could see it in her eyes but it was behind that haunted and fragile look that Claire found both irritating, and yet felt oddly drawn to. The older woman gave a shy smile and looked away from the redhead's eyes.

Claire turned to Carlos with a skeptical look, 'Think this is your miracle, old man?'

Carlos shrugged and glanced at Alice, who was watching Claire. 'Maybe so. Or, maybe it's yours.' Without elaborating further he jumped down out of the truck. 'Let's get everyone together.'

K-Mart stayed where she sat when Alice didn't move to go with the others. 'So what's the deal with you and Claire?' she asked once they were alone, in her very direct way.

'Me and...what?' Alice asked blankly.

'You're so tense around each other, that's all.' She sounded casual but K-Mart had a shrewd look on her face though and Alice wondered what the teenager was really thinking.

'I think...Claire doesn't trust me.'

K-Mart nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer, but then she spoke up again. 'She's lost people.' Alice grunted in acknowlegment.

'The convoy used to be much bigger.' She said but K-Mart shook her head.

'No, I mean, she lost her brother - she doesn't know what happened to him and I reckon still hopes he's alive. Most of us, we can move on, you know? We know our family is dead, but Claire will always hope to find him. And then...' She stopped, unsure if she should mention Sarah.

'What?' Alice asked softly.

'She was really close with someone a little while ago. But, well, she got bit and Claire had to...' her voice trailed off as she saw the look of empathic pain in Alice's face. 'Sorry, it's upsetting. I'm sorry.' She repeated her apology though she didn't know why, only that she probably shouldn't have said anything. 'I mean, I guess maybe it's not that she doesn't trust you, but that she's afraid of getting close to you. Umm, not that you'd want...' She stopped. Then, 'I'm sorry,' she said again. 'I just want Claire to be happy, that's all. I think I hope for things when there's nothing there. If that makes sense?' She stared out of the truck, watching Claire heading back towards them, then looked tentatively towards Alice, who was likewise watching the redhead with a thoughtful expression.

'Nothing gets by you, K, does it?' She said seriously, just as Claire swung up into the back of the truck.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for slow updates, it's just a case of not getting round to uploading. No excuse! Thanks for the reviews and favourites, people.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Resident Evil characters or the storyline and dialogue I've based this around. Sadly.**

'We have a decision to make, and it's too big, it's too important for me to make for you.' Claire crouched down in the back of the army truck, all the survivors in a loose semi-circle around her, listening. Alice wasn't sure if she should be involved in this decision - she stood to one side, feeling every bit like the new girl at school.

'There's a chance there are survivors.' Claire continued.

'Where?' Someone in the group called out. Excited whispers had begun to spread already.

'In Alaska.' The redhead paused and looked at the new hope on the survivors' faces. 'There is a chance -' she emphasised the last word, not wanting to mislead these people into thinking this was the miracle they had all been praying for, '- that the infection hasn't reached that far.'

More excited whispers, and Claire had to speak up to be heard by everyone. 'But we don't know for sure. So we have a choice:

'We stay as we are, or we try for Alaska.'

'For Alaska.'

K-Mart's hand went up first but soon everyone in the convoy had a hand raised in favour of trying for Alaska.

Claire nodded, a resigned but thoughtful smile on her face. 'Alaska.' She spoke under her breath, then jumped down out of the truck amidst the cheers of the newly-hopeful group.

Alice was feeling awkward still, she looked away from the happy faces but there was a touch on her arm. Surprised, she found herself face to face with the redheaded leader.

'I hope you're right.' It wasn't a threat, there was a wishful tone there as well, but Alice also thought the woman was feeling the strain of leadership acutely that afternoon. She watched Claire walk away, admiring the woman's determination to protect these last few survivors.

As Claire left Alice and the others her mind drifted to Sarah again; remembering the ranch worker talking about the infection in the isolated rural community she had been from.

_'So what happened on your ranch? You never told me.' K-Mart was sitting in the front of the jeep, her arms draped over the back of the seat and watching Sarah rolling a joint in the back. Claire was driving, a cigarette hanging from her lips. It was a year almost since they'd picked K-Mart and Sarah up with the others, the convoy numbered over fifty survivors and they had supplies and fuel for a month at least. While the threat of running across the undead was very real and quite frequent, they hadn't lost anyone in weeks and Claire felt that there was good hope for their continued survival._

_Sarah licked the edge of the rolling paper and looked thoughtfully at K-Mart, torn between wanting to protect the blonde girl from horror stories and the knowledge that her own stories were no better than Sarah's anyway. 'We figured we'd be okay at first. There were a lot of reports about the cities but very little close to home. But then people - refugees from the cities - started arriving and, well,' she paused a moment to light the joint, 'we barricaded the ranch off in the end. There were just too many. I guess one of them brought the infection with them because soon enough we didn't have refugees camping on our front lawn anymore.' She reached forward and held the joint out in between the two front seats._

_K-Mart took the offered joint, took a long drag then passed it to Claire, who raised an amused eyebrow at the smoke rings K-Mart was blowing out the window before handing her half-finished cigarette to Sarah._

_'Eventually the boss hit on a plan: we sent the cattle and horses out in a stampede and...' she paused with an amused half-smile on her face '...well, we escaped on horseback in the chaos.'_

_Claire choked on her inhale. 'Are you serious?'_

_'Oh yeah. Though I reckon only about half of us made it. A couple of the horses threw their riders - not something you want to have happen in the middle of a stampede even without the undead underfoot. and the others...' She shrugged and her smile faded. 'Well, once I'd got to town, I took a vehicle and collected supplies and ammo,' her hand unconciously touched her weathered rifle on the seat next to her, 'and made my way South. I don't know where the others who escaped went, we didn't stick together.' She fell silent, leaning forwards to throw the cigarette end through the mesh at the window and take the joint back from Claire._

_'I wonder what happened to the horses?' K-Mart asked no-one in particular, staring out at the barren wasteland that had once been green fields._

Claire grimaced at the memories, and certainly not convinced about the possibility of an Alaskan infection-free zone. Sarah's home had been isolated, yet the infection had reached that far, why would anywhere else be different?

Her hand unconsciously went to the pocket that she'd usually find a packet of cigarettes. 'Damn,' she swore out loud, remembering that she'd smoked her last one two days ago now.

'You alright?'

Claire hadn't noticed Alice standing by the truck in the gathering dusk, and sighed. Sometimes she really hated the confinement of this post-apocalyptic world. There was no safe way to really escape the people you had around you, she thought.

'To Alice she put on a smile and said, 'I'm fine, thanks. Just missing a few luxuries, that's all.'

'Luxuries?' Alice spoke as if she didn't understand the word.

'Well cigarettes, really.' Claire's smile was genuine this time, and regretful. 'I know, a horrible habit, but-'

'Here.' Alice handed Claire an open pack with three cigarettes left in it. 'I picked it up at the last gas station I was at – they're probably pretty dry though, the pack was already open.' She didn't mention that they had been lying at the feet of the same man who had written the notebook; the man who had hung himself in the back room of the little gas station. 'I don't smoke anymore.' Alice grinned shyly, and left Claire standing speechlessly by the truck clutching the dusty pack.

Claire shared the cigarettes with Carlos and Chase, sitting in the back of the army truck. Mikey, Alice and K-Mart drifted over to join them as the evening wore on, and the conversation inevitably turned to their current situation; fuel and food, and how best to organise the long journey to Alaska.

'The food's virtually gone and the truck's running on empty.'

'I've got half a tank of gas. That's it.' Mikey said. 'Chase?'

'Ahh, shit, I don't even have empty.' The cowboy shook his head at the thought. 'I got enough for a hundred miles, tops.'

Alice looked over at K-Mart. The kid looked ready to fall asleep at any moment, yet was forcing herself to stay awake and be part of the adult conversations. Alice smiled to herself. Teenagers were still teenagers regardless of whether the end of the world had come. She switched her gaze to Claire, who sat staring out into the dark desert, apparently ignoring what was being said by the others. Certainly not bothering to look at the map.

'If we're gonna make this trip, we'll need to resupply.'

'Yep.' Chase bit back the _no shit, Sherlock_ response he'd have liked to give Carlos. The man was a great fighter but Chase wondered if there was a cell of a sense of humour in him.

'These are our options.' Carlos was oblivious to Chase's amusement. 'The nearest, safest bet is right there.'

'No, it's empty. I tried there.' Alice looked at the map and shook her head.

'Then, well, maybe...' Carlos looked hopelessly at the map with the crosses marking the places they'd already tried.

'We could try this-' Mikey started but Claire spoke up, cutting him off.

'Vegas.' They had all been skirting around that option, even though they also all knew it was the only one. 'It's the only place we're sure to find gasoline and supplies.' Claire continued, despite the horrified stares from the men around the map.

'There's a reason for that. Vegas is too damn dangerous.' Carlos clearly thought Claire had lost her mind.

'It'll be crawling with them sons of bitches.' Chase added.

'We've drained every small town dry over the last six months.' She said. 'We have to hit a big city.' Her expression was hard and challenging.

Everyone was silent for a moment, then Alice nodded and spoke up, softly. 'She's right. Vegas, it's our only bet.' She glanced at Claire to find the redhead watching her closely, an indecipherable expression on her face. Almost a smile? Alice's mouth curved into a return smile for an instant before she ducked her head shyly, still feeling the other woman's eyes on her.

A short while later Claire found Alice sitting alone by the fire. The others were already settling down for the night, getting ready for Vegas tomorrow.

'Hey.' Claire sat down without waiting for an invitation from Alice. 'Thanks for backing me up just then.'

'No problem.'

'I get why Carlos thinks they need something to hope for, but I'm worried this is going to be a disaster.'

'But that's why you're a good leader.' Alice looked at Claire. 'You listen to the others' needs, even if you don't really agree. Carlos would just do it all his own way, I know him well.'

Claire nodded, an unexpected surge of jealousy in the pit of her stomach at Alice's mention of Carlos. 'He talked about you a lot, the last few years. Always said you'd come and find him. So did Jill, before she disappeared.'

'Jill was part of the convoy?' Alice looked surprised at the mention of the woman she had met in Raccoon City. Jill never struck her as a team player.

'Sure, though she travelled out on her own a lot to find survivors and brought them back. She couldn't deal with so many people I think.' Claire paused. 'She left to respond to a radio call for surviors but didn't come back. Chase and S-' she stopped, a pained look on her face.

Alice looked at her curiously, but said nothing.

'Chase and some others went to look for her but found no surviors, no undead, no Jill. Her bike and some other vehicles though, just abandoned.' Claire stared into the fire, remembering how Carlos and LJ had been sure Jill would come back - but their hope had eventually waned. Carlos had still insisted Alice would find them though.

'I don't like this. I know I said we should go to Vegas, but I-' the redhead sighed. 'I don't know, I guess we don't have many other options than trying for Alaska now anyway.'

'It'll work out okay.' Alice put her arm around Claire's shoulders, and Claire, unthinking, leaned into the contact. She held her breath, expecting Alice to pull away, but to her surprise the taller woman didn't move and simply squeezed her shoulders tighter. Claire swallowed against the lump rising in her throat at the memory of other nights by a different campfire, far away and a long time ago. Eventually she took a deep breath and pulled away from Alice's half-embrace.

'I'm sorry,' she spoke softly, looking at the fire, at her feet, anywhere except Alice's face; she could feel the pale eyes on her and really didn't want to see what expression might be there.

Alice's voice was rough, 'It's alright.' She willed Claire to look at her, but the younger woman continued to stare at the fire.

'I reckon we'd better get some sleep too. Tomorrow might be a rough day.' Claire sounded reluctant for tomorrow - or reluctant to leave perhaps, Alice thought. She stood up, started heading for the hummer, but then turned back. 'You're welcome to share the hummer with K-Mart and I, if you need somewhere to sleep.'

Alice looked up. Now Claire was looking at her, and there was definitely a hopeful question in her eyes. Alice's heart jumped, and she hesitated for a moment, before shaking her head.

'I'm happier outside, but thanks.'

'Up to you. Offer stands though.' Claire put her hand on Alice's shoulder for a second before leaving.

Alice watched her go, her mind spinning. She hadn't really felt anything like this for a long time and it confused her. She had thought it was because of the testing; perhaps the T-Virus had inhibited her emotions somehow, but maybe it wasn't that simple. A brief thought of a dark-haired soldier came into her mind. Rain, she had been called. That was years ago, and had only been a brief encounter. Or had it? She couldn't remember everything from before she woke up in the mansion, disorientated and alone.

She sat staring at the fire, watching it burn down for over an hour. She had no desire to sleep - or no need to. Having the virus inside her made eating, sleeping and warmth irrelevant to survival, apparently. She missed needing those things; missed really being alive.

'Guess I can't sleep after all.' Alice turned to see Claire holding two blankets. She handed one to Alice and wrapped herself in the other, sitting close by the fire, close to the other woman's warmth. 'Keep thinking tonight might be the last night I see.'

'That's a bit morbid.' Alice raised an eyebrow at the redhead, who forced a smile.

'Yeah, I suppose so.'

They sat together in silence, and at some point must have fallen asleep, because Alice woke at dawn with Claire curled in her arms. The redhead was still sleeping, her breath low and even, and Alice lay motionless for a while longer, not wanting to disturb the sleeper just yet.

Finally she sighed and gently shook Claire awake. 'Good morning.'

'Hey.' Claire smiled, and Alice shot a shy grin back at her. Claire stretched, and took Alice's offered hand to help her up. She didn't let go at once though, holding on and looking at Alice with a barely noticable frown. The frown deepened when she saw the hesitation and apprehension in Alice's eyes. She let go, her fingers slipping slowly through Alice's, and turned towards the vehicles. 'Well, no time to waste.'


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm not real happy with the last chapter here but nevermind. Hope you all like it anyway.**

**Disclaimer: Yep, really don't own any of the RE script, plot or characters.**

'Oh, my God.' Claire gasped at her first sight of what was left of Las Vegas. The smaller buildings were mostly buried in sand, the hotels and casinos looked like ancient ruins, pertrified and sand bitten.

Alice was jolted awake as they hit the softer sand dunes around the city. She gazed at the ruined city in amazement.

'What happened to it?' K-Mart asked.

'The desert must have taken it back.' Alice said. 'Five years,no one to keep the sand back.'

Carlos was less interested in the sand and more concerned with what might be waiting for them. 'It's empty. No undead, nothing.'

'Those birds must have moved through the city block by block, picked it clean.' Alice said. She couldn't think of any other reason for the undead to have left the city.

'Claire, LJ says there's gas pumps in the casino parking just ahead.' Chase's voice crackled over the radio.

'Okay.' Claire replaced her radio handset on the dashboard and pointed the hummer at the next sand dune between them and the casino. The dunes to the side of what had been the road were too soft to drive on, and besides, they didn't know what might be under the seemingly smooth layers of sand.

Claire stopped the vehicle, looking at something in the road.

'Damn it.'

A large shipping container blocked their route to the pumps, and Alice looked at it suspiciously. It looked like it had been placed there recently, rather than something that was left over from civilization before the infection. The others didn't seem to notice anything other than it being in their way, though Claire was looking grimmer by the second.

'We'll have to move it.' Claire said, partly to herself and partly to Mikey who was the first to join her from his vehicle.

'Chase, I need a lookout.' She looked around for a good vantage point, then pointed up the replica Eiffel Tower. 'Up there.'

'Great.' Chase said to himself as he walked off. 'Climb the Eiffel Tower with a high-powered rifle. A few years ago, that would've caused a stir.' He grabbed one of the iron rungs and started to swing himself higher. 'Well, let the good times roll.'

Claire caught hold of Alice. 'I don't like this.' Alice nodded grimly.

'Me either. Do we have another choice?' Claire looked at her, seeing doubt and fear in her pale eyes. She shook her head.

'Let's get this done, get the hell out of here.' Turning around, she gestured to the Australian. 'Mikey, get the winch.'

But Alice held up a warning hand. 'Wait.' Suddenly any hesitation was gone from the tall, lithe woman; Claire was taken by surprise at the change in the way she moved and handled her weapons. Now Alice was a killer and Claire didn't know whether to take comfort in this or be concerned for herself and the convoy.

'Get back!' Alice jumped away from the container, her gun ready, just before the front fell open.

As the undead monsters swarmed out, Claire felt the familiar moment of panic rising in her again and let her thoughts flicker back to Sarah's calm for just a moment, long enough for her to get herself under control.

The fight was a blur to her, vague images of running to save K-Mart, then running to save herself. Shooting the creatures all over Mikey, seeing Chase fall from the tower and LJ dead, his mouth red with Carlos' blood. Everything she had worked for since the outbreak was being ripped from under her, and she sank to the ground in defeat.

_'How do you stay so cheerful?' Claire asked Sarah one night as they lay together under the stars. There were so many more stars now; now there weren't any lights to block them out. The fire was just about dying now, glowing embers still warming their skin._

_Sarah looked thoughtful for a minute.'What's the use of anything else? I could be miserable and spend my days missing the life I've lost, or dreaming and wishing for a new life to rise out of the ashes-'_

_'Like I do?' Claire asked._

_'Well, like you but not like you. You get things done – you fight for the idea of a new life, but so many of them' she meant the other survivors 'just dream about things and don't do anything. Me, I figure I'll just take every day one hour at a time.'_

_'You like this life.' Claire said._

_Sarah propped herself up on one elbow, looking down at Claire. 'Yeah, I reckon maybe I do.' She paused, a serious expression on her usually so cheerful face. 'Does that upset you?'_

_It was Claire's turn to hesitate in thought now. 'No,' she said finally, 'I think it'd be nice to think like that.'_

_'Of course, having you helps.' Sarah smiled her lopsided smile. Her lips met the redhead's, who returned the kiss, her hands busy unbuckling Sarah's belt; slipping under her waistband. Sarah raised an eyebrow at her. She was beautiful in the glow of the dying fire. 'Here?'_

_'Sure.' Claire laughed softly and looked round at the silent vehicles. 'No-one's awake.'_

But Sarah was gone, and Claire swallowed her tears, shutting the memories out.

'Claire?' It was K-Mart, a tentative hand on Claire's back. 'Are you hurt?' Concerned but also afraid of the answer, Claire thought.

'Find Alice.' It was all she could think of right now. Her miracle. Some miracle she had been; where did she go during the fight? They had died around her and she had been nowhere to be seen.

Claire felt anger washing over her, giving her the strength she needed to stand up and follow K-Mart.

'Why didn't you shoot?' K-Mart had noticed Alice running to the roof of a ruined building, and had got there in time to see Alice watching a black Umbrella helicopter flying away.

The tall woman looked round and smiled. 'Because we're not driving to Alaska. I want that helicopter intact.' She started back to the tent, K-Mart at her heels.

'Let's go look at the computer, see where that chopper's headed.' Alice didn't think to warn K-Mart of the dead Umbrella agents in the tent, and the teenager hesitated for a moment when she saw them. They hadn't been killed by undead, and she looked at the calm and quiet Alice with renewed awe.

Alice peered at the slightly blood spattered computer screen for a minute with a blank expression, until K-Mart pointed at a set of co-ordinates. 'What's that?'

'That must be it. Hang on.' Alice turned and picked up a map that had fallen off one of the temporary tables. She spread it so they could match the co-ordinates to the map. 'There.' Alice pointed to what was labelled as a water processing plant a few miles out from what had been the outskirts of Vegas but was now just desert. 'That must be it,' she said again, as if by repeating it she could make it so.

She rolled up the map. 'Right, let's go find Carlos and Clai-'

'Carlos...' K-Mart looked stricken at his name and Alice frowned. 'What's wrong?'

'He got bit. LJ- I guess LJ got infected at the motel, and Carlos had to pull him away from me. But he got bitten.' K-Mart looked like she was trying hard not to cry. 'I'm sorry.'

'Hey,' Alice hugged K-Mart, 'it's not your fault.'

'Damn right it's not,' the voice came from behind them. 'What the hell happened to you?' Claire was marching towards them. 'Go help Carlos, K-Mart,' she spoke to the girl, but continued staring at Alice. K-Mart hesitated a moment, glancing at Alice as if for confirmation. 'Now!'

She waited until K-Mart had gone, then Alice started to try to explain. 'Claire, it was Umbrella. They have-'

'This is all **your** fault.' Claire didn't shout, she spoke evenly and all too calmly. Alice felt like she was a kid being told off at school. 'You come in here, some kind of miracle, filling everyone's heads with hopes of some crazy fairy tale.' She took a deep breath. 'Hell, you had me persuaded even! So then we come out here and they send those things after **you** - yes, Carlos told me why you've been staying away from him all this time - and now we've lost most of the adults in the convoy! We lost Mikey; Alice. And Chase.' Her voice cracked at Chase's name and she looked at the ground. 'LJ. And LJ bit Carlos.'

Alice looked at the ground. Her guilt was bad enough without Claire reminding her. She waited for the next outburst, but to her surprise the redhead just seemed exhausted and leaned against the wall, one hand rubbing her eyes. 'Claire?' Alice moved quickly to the other woman's side. 'You're not hurt, are you?'

There was genuine concern in Alice's voice which Claire couldn't ignore. 'I'm sorry, that's not fair. It's not your fault, I do know we didn't have any other options anyway. I just-' she hesitated, suddenly aware that Alice had an arm around her. Alice seemed to realise it at the same moment, and awkwardly moved away again.

'It is my fault, you know.' Alice took a deep breath and the corners of her mouth twitched nervously. 'All of it.'

'What do you mean?'

'All this.' Alice swept an arm around her. 'It's all because of me.'

She explained briefly what had happened, the mansion, then in Raccoon City; the time trying to hide from Umbrella - even what she had eventually done to little Angela; the girl she, Jill, Carlos and LJ had rescued in Raccoon City - it felt good to get it all off her chest, and Claire listened in silence.

When she finished, Claire shook her head. 'It's really not your fault. It sounds like you were trying to fix things. That man, Spence, he's the villian in this. And Umbrella. And I just don't think you're the same person you were back then.'

Alice nodded at that. 'That's true. I barely remember anything before the mansion, still.'

A flicker of surprise ran over Claire's face; she'd been so wrapped up in her memories the past few days that the thought of not having them at all terrified her.

'That's how Umbrella has this control over me,' Alice continued, 'they can shut me down like that. But I got it, I got the satellite. I'm free from them now.' She sounded like a little girl excited over something wonderful. 'And Claire, listen to me. We found a helicopter.'

'Are you serious?' Claire's eyes had a small spark of hope in them again, and Alice felt relief wash over her. She let herself smile, a little lopsided smile that briefly caused Claire's eyes to cloud over again._ Every time_, Alice thought for a moment, curious.

'K-Mart and I tracked it to what must be an Umbrella facility just outside of Vegas.' She paused. 'They'll have the cure there too.'

What was left of the convoy travelled towards the Umbrella facility, and stopped a little way away from it to scout the area. Alice, who had driven the army truck, touched Claire's arm as she got out of the hummer.

'Wait.' Claire waited, half out of the vehicle, looking at Alice standing on the hot sand. 'I can't come with you.'

Claire nodded, the defeated look back in her eyes. 'I thought you wouldn't. It's okay, we'll be okay.'

'It's not that I don't want to, but I need to finish this, and this is my best shot.' Alice looked wild-eyed and worried, and Claire caught hold of the taller woman's shoulders, looking directly at her.

'We'll be okay. You do what you have to do.' Without thinking she leaned forwards and kissed the surprised brunette – just long enough to feel Alice relax into the kiss. Claire broke away then, a sad and worried frown on her face. Alice wrapped her thin arms around the redhead, comforting her, lips brushing her forehead in a shy gesture.

'I'll find you again.'Alice's voice caught in her throat and she barely whispered the words.

But Claire shook her head at this and wordlessly turned away to join K-Mart and Carlos, leaving Alice standing confused by the yellow vehicle.

'Good thing we like a challenge.' Alice said a little later as the four of them looked down at the mass of undead surrounding the Umbrella facility. There was a darkly humorous note to her words.

'Guess we know where the infected from Vegas went, huh?' K-Mart said to Claire, who nodded in agreement.

'Must be.'

Carlos wasn't looking good. Claire watched Alice trying to reassure him that they would get the cure once they figure out how to get in to the facility, but Carlos was shaking his head.

'We've seen enough.' Claire said firmly. 'We'll never get anywhere just watching them down there.' She stood up and brushed the sand off herself. They headed down to the vehicles, but Alice held Claire back.

'Carlos has an idea.' She said, an unsure and unhappy expression on her face. 'I don't think you're going to like it much.' Apologetic now.

'Go on.' Claire said, then listened as Alice explained that Carlos would drive the tanker through the undead crowd, killing himself, but buying them time to get to the helicopter. Ahead Carlos was explaining it to K-Mart.

The teenager was crying by the time they reached the rest of the convoy, holding onto Carlos.

'She's had a crush on him for years.' Claire said, because there was nothing else she could think of to say. Alice nodded.

'I noticed.' Somewhere between leaving the rocks and reaching the vehicles they had joined hands, neither knew when. Alice squeezed Claire's fingers before letting go, and they stood facing each other for a moment.

'I-' Claire started, but Alice shook her head and stepped back, turning towards the tanker.

Then, too soon, it was time to say goodbye.

'You keep them safe, huh?' Carlos gripped Claire's hand and she nodded, tears welling in her eyes.

'You got it.' She said, her voice as steady as she could manage.

He nodded once, then was gone. Alice was waiting for him by the tanker.

'Come here.' Claire hugged K-Mart, tears running down her cheeks now, the teenager sobbing into her shoulder. She watched Alice with Carlos; saw her kiss him and felt the jealous stab in her chest. 'Let's wait in the hummer.' She said once K-Mart had begun to calm down. Glancing around to be sure everyone else was safely in the army truck, Claire climbed into the passenger side – she didn't think she'd have the strength to drive through the mass of undead – to wait for Alice.

_The night was cold, and everyone had retreated to their vehicles early. Sarah sat in the back of the jeep, looking at an old photo of herself. _

_'May I see?' Claire took the offered photo and smiled at the figure there: six years younger, a lifetime's lack of experience separating her face from the one sitting next to Claire. She was on a red – 'sorrel' Sarah corrected Claire – horse, behind her a crowd watched a blur of horse and rider as her competition ran the barrel course._

_'I won that day, you know.' Sarah shrugged. 'Doesn't matter anymore, of course.'_

_'I guess this is all we have now. These moments in time. Photos and memories. Frozen.'_

_Sarah snorted with laughter at Claire's melodramatic tone. 'You're high.'_

_'So are you.' Claire was too stoned to think of a clever response. She held the photo out to give it back to Sarah, but the brunette pushed her hand away._

_'Keep it. What do I need a photo of myself for?'_

Alice climbed into the driver's seat, avoiding Claire's eyes. Claire reached into the glove compartment and picked up an old photo from inside, hesitating for a moment before putting it in her pocket. Looking up again she saw Alice noticing the photo and now it was her turn to avoid the curious look in Alice's eyes. K-Mart had seen too; she opened her mouth to speak but then thought better of it at the expression on Claire's face.

They drove side by side with the tanker for a while, then at a nod from Carlos, Alice slowed, letting the tanker speed ahead of them to clear the way. Claire touched Alice's arm gently, sympathetically.

'I'm sorry.' She said. 'For before. I mean, I didn't realise. Carlos.' Her words came out all rushed, in the wrong order, but Alice understood what she was trying to say.

'I wish we had more time.' She said simply, genuine regret in her eyes. Claire didn't know at first if she meant with Carlos or with her, but Alice's hand brushed against her knee in answer to her unspoken question.

Then the tanker ahead of them slid over on it's side and then there really was no more time.

'Hold on.' Alice said as she pressed her foot down on the gas pedal.

The vehicles bounced over the tanker parts and dead infected, through the chain link gates and across the empty gap between the fence and the waiting helicopter.

Claire reached the helicopter first, flicking switches to make sure it was fueled and flight-ready. A cold fear had risen in her as she ran towards it, fear that she wouldn't be able to fly it, that it would be damaged, that they would be stuck there with thousands of undead on their heels and a handful of children to protect. She smiled in relief as it sprung to life, blades beginning to rotate.

After lifting the last of the children into the helicopter, Alice handed the little notebook with the radio transmissions in it to K-Mart.

'You're not coming?' There was a note of panic in the teenager's voice that Claire didn't entirely appreciate.

Alice shook her head slowly, 'Take care of the others.'

K-Mart nodded and silently watched Alice turn to Claire.

As her eyes met Alice's, Claire knew she absolutely didn't want to be leaving the tall weathered woman behind. She had expected to feel this; but from the panicked and confused look in Alice's eyes the other woman had been taken by surprise by the same realisation. But this was how it had to be, they both knew it, and though every part of Claire's brain wanted to stop the helicopter, and every fibre of Alice's muscles wanted to jump up into it, there was no stopping the gap between them getting wider.

Claire's mind slipped into thought again as the helicopter levelled out and headed north. But recent memory this time: just a few hours earlier, standing next to the hummer with Alice's arms wrapped around her.

**Well, that's all folks. Thank you to those who have written messages and reviews. Thinking about a possible sequel based around Afterlife. **


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